Bittercreek out to repay Corstens and Harvey’s unwavering faith
Son of Snitzel aims to make his mark in Group 2 company in the Spirit Of Boom Classic
Victorian buyer Dean Harvey and trainer Troy Corstens hope sticking to their guns brings rewards as the promising Bittercreek (Snitzel) starts a potential stallion-making campaign in Saturday’s Spirit Of Boom Classic (registered as Champagne Classic) (Gr 2, 1200m) at Doomben.
Bittercreek – a half-brother to expensive Group-winning Fastnet Rock (Danehill) brothers Siege Of Quebec and Bull Point – is the marquee two-year-old colt from a selection Harvey’s Baystone Farm has racing with Troy and Leon Corstens. That wasn’t always the chief intention, with the long-term associates regular traders in the breeze-up market.
Harvey and the Corstens’ Malua Bloodstock went a little higher than their usual range – $375,000 – to secure the Belinda Bateman-bred Bittercreek from the Arrowfield Stud draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
After a third in a Flemington jump-out he went to the Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale last October with a reserve commensurate with his bloodlines of $750,000.
While the bidding came close – $700,000 – Harvey and Team Corstens held firm, and held their colt. A similar game of hard scrabble as unfolded just nine lots later, when Harvey rejected $260,000, in the face of his $280,000 reserve, to retain the colt he’d bought for $200,000, who’s now the promising Tony Gollan-trained Balastier (Brazen Beau).
“We knew they were both very good colts, so we weren’t just going to burn them,” Harvey told ANZ Bloodstock News. “Hopefully we get proved correct.”
Corstens concurs on Bittercreek, saying: “I told Dean early on Bittercreek was very promising, so make sure we put a decent reserve on him. These good horses are very hard to get. When you spend that much money on them at the start, you’ve got to make sure you get a result out of them.”
So far, so good for Bittercreek.
Sizeable and long-striding, he produced a highly professional debut up the Flemington straight in the Talindert Stakes (Listed, 1100m) in February – when still wholly owned by Harvey and Malua – when third. He finished 1.25 lengths behind winner Aardvark (Capitalist), another Harvey-Corstens colt who looks to be going places.
Aardvark, a $240,000 yearling buy for Harvey, had a change of colours after pre-debut trials, when James Harron’s colts syndicate bought a controlling interest. Similar happened after Bittercreek’s debut when another major player in the shape of Rupert Legh bought in.
Legh then increased his stake after Bittercreek impressed at start two in The Valley Pearl (Listed, 1200m), taking his time around Moonee Valley’s tight corners but finishing strongly from the rear for a two-length second to Growing Empire (Zoustar), who next start won a Group 3 in Adelaide.
Corstens said he and Harvey still own “a big chunk each” of Bittercreek, though the co-trainer also brought in a couple of other associates after the Talindert.
“Rupert watched him race at Flemington, then had a chat with me and purchased himself a stake, and a couple of my other friends and good clients jumped in, in Travis Smith and Nick Frangoulis.
“He was in the shop window that day at Flemington – and still is. He’s a colt with a good pedigree. Hopefully we can turn him into a stallion – that’s the aim.”
As high as he went to secure him, Harvey had expected bidding for the yearling Bittercreek to climb way out of his league. He’s out of the Ian Smith-bred Rose Of Cimmaron (Bite The Bullet), a Sydney city-winning sister to the Group-winning dam of two Group 1 victors: the outstanding Criterion (Sebring) and Comin’ Through (Fastnet Rock).
Rose Of Cimmaron’s first foal was a $960,000 yearling who’s now Group 3-winning Kingstar Farm resident Bull Point. Her third foal, Siege Of Quebec, fetched $1.2 million to rank sixth at Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in 2016.
“We bought Aardvark, Balastier and Bittercreek at that Magic Millions sale,” Harvey said. “Bittercreek was obviously the most expensive, and to be honest, I didn’t think we’d be able to buy him.
“We loved him as a yearling. He was by Snitzel, good looking, no glitches, it was just ‘tick, tick, tick’. I thought he might go for $600,000 or $800,000, but I just sat there and kept on bidding, and suddenly had him for $375,000.”
Harvey’s still not sure how. One possible reason is the dam, Rose Of Cimmaron, was 17 when she had this colt, not six and ten as for Bull Point and Siege Of Quebec.
But with mercurial fertility, Rose Of Cimmaron had Bittercreek as just her seventh foal across an 11-year stretch.
“She was old, but she hasn’t had the best breeding record,” Harvey said. “She’s only had [six] to the races, but she’s had two Group winners, so she’s an elite mare.
“You see it pop up all the time. Some people don’t like buying out of old mares, but you see good results out of them. There’s no rules. You’ve just got to back your judgement and what you see in front of you and on paper, and that’s how this one came along.”
Corstens and Harvey admit to a slight concern over the 1200–metre trip around the tight-ish Doomben for Saturday’s $300,000 Spirit Of Boom Classic for Bittercreek, who has gate eight of 12 for Blake Shinn. The trainer added, however, the colt had “freshened up nicely” since his Valley Pearl Stakes run on March 23.
But he’ll perhaps be better suited by juicier targets at roomier Eagle Farm in the $1 million BRC Sires Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) on June 1, and the JJ Atkins (Gr 1, 1600m) on June 15.
Both are worth $1 million, but victory would be worth far more in stud value: witness King Colorado’s (Kingman) recent deal to join Widden Stud’s roster after winning last year’s JJ Atkins at start three, and not winning again in eight more starts.
“Hoping he wins the JJ, and then hopefully Troy and I will be selling out for far more than what we paid,” Harvey said.
“There’s always plenty of competition to get them to that spot. But we reckon he’s got great ability, and a great head on his shoulders, so we expect him to do quite well for us.
“He’s just got the greatest attitude, and tries his guts out. He went back at Moonee Valley, which was the plan to get him to settle and come home. On debut at Flemington he raced up front, but it was because he’d copped a bit of a brush going out of the gates, and it just fired him a little bit to get racing a touch keenly.
“But we were really proud of him, the way he finished off that race. He puts his head down and he just tries, and that’s a really great attribute for a racehorse.”
With Bittercreek around the fifth line of betting at $9 last night, Corstens and the bookies expect the stiffest opposition to come from Clinton McDonald’s $3.80 favourite, second starter Angel Capital (Harry Angel).
A $400,000 purchase for Hong Kong-based Upper Bloodstock’s Gregory Ho from the Mill Park Stud draft at Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, Angel Capital debuted with a scintillating 2.3 length victory in a 1000-metre Cranbourne maiden on April 26, after which Jamie Kah was keen to retain the mount. On Saturday the pair again have gate 11 – like on debut, when Angel Capital flew home from tenth at the 400-metre mark.
“It’s a good field, but the bookies have him favourite and they normally get it right,” McDonald told ANZ from his northern base, Peter Robl’s Gold Coast stable.
“There’s some nice horses in the race, so we’re up against it, going from a maiden at Cranbourne to a Group 2. But it was obviously the way he won that made the bookies put him up as favourite. Hopefully they’ve got it right.
“He’s in great shape. He’s had a really good ten or so days up here, and he looks great and has been working strongly. He’s a horse who’s always shown us great potential, with everything he’s done at home.
“I feel he’s just a little vulnerable, from gate 11. We’re going to have to go back and give them a start on a bit of a tight track. But we do feel he’s got the capabilities to get the job done. But if we miss, it’s not the end of the world.”
Angel Capital is currently $8 second-favourite for the JJ Atkins behind Godolphin’s ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Broadsiding (Too Darn Hot) at $3. Bittercreek – and Balastier – are $51.
A half-brother to dual stakes-winners Berkeley Square (Territories) and Senor Toba (Toronado) – and bred by the same man in Adelaide’s David Peacock – Angel Capital had been seen by McDonald as a potential autumn majors candidate after winning a Cranbourne jump-out in December, before taking more time to mature than hoped.
“He’s a magnificent colt, with a terrific attitude,” McDonald said. “We thought he was a Blue Diamond or a Golden Slipper horse, but he just came back in this year and I wasn’t a hundred per cent happy with him. He’s a big horse, probably 16.2 hands, and needed more time.
“He gets his second start now in a Group 2, so he gets his chance to turn into an elite racehorse.”
Much interest in the Spirit Of Boom Classic will also focus on Chris Waller’s Newgate-China Horse Club $10 shot President (I Am Invincible), the $950,000 Easter purchase who’s had a Kensington maiden third and a Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) fifth of seven from two starts.
The race also features Rosemont Stud’s $900,000 Gold Coast purchase Bosustow (Blue Point), the half-brother to Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni) who’s an $8.50 chance after working home well last start for third in the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) on March 9.
Meanwhile, McDonald said his Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Hayasugi (Royal Meeting) would arrive to prepare in the Queensland sun in two weeks ahead of major spring targets.
He said the filly had recovered well from her Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) horror show, when she knuckled at the start – quartering a heel in the process – and veered into the running rail, with her rider Kah having lost her near side rein.
“She’s fine,” he said. “She’ll be up on the Gold Coast in two weeks to prep for the spring.”